October 16, 2009

Today, we welcome a familiar face as a guest of Rotary to the speakers post, as local broadcaster and President of Thunderbolt Broadcasting, Paul Tinkle takes to the podium and enlightens us on the radio broadcasting world in West Tennessee.

Paul began broadcasting when he was 9 years old talking on his grandfather’s CB radio at the old Blue Bell Laundry and Dry Cleaners.

He helped in the laundry business until he went to work milking cows for his aunt and uncle, Rita and Butch Winter at Midway Farms. When he was 15 he was hired to be the janitor of the radio station in Martin where he began his radio career cleaning the toilet.

Paul attended schools in Hickman, Union City and Martin and graduated from UTM with a Bachelors Degree in English and Communications. Paul has headed up stations here in Union City, Martin, Trenton and Milan and worked in both Mayfield and Paducah.

He is a recipient of the Tennessee Association of Broadcaster’s "Distinguished Service Award" and Weakley Countian of the Year" and Thunderbolt stations have received the coveted "Crystal" award of community service from the National Association of Broadcasters.

As mentioned, he is president of Thunderbolt Broadcasting which owns and operates 104.9 and 105.7 in Union City and 1410, 100.5 and 95.1 in Martin.

Next week, UTM’s new Girls Head Basketball Coach, Kevin McMillan will visit and fill us in on that program for the up-coming season.

Kevin came to UTM from Gibson County High School where he coached that team from 2007-2009, leading Gibson County to a record of 62-6, including a pair of state tournament berths and an undefeated 35-0 run to the 2009 state championship that earned him his most recent coach of the year recognition. In his two-year tenure he was named district coach of the year in both 2008 and 2009, as his teams won a pair of region and sub-state tournaments along with a district crown in 2009.

Prior to jumping to the collegiate ranks as an assistant at Middle Tennessee, McMillan spent eight years as the head coach at Westview High School. While there he compiled a record of 195-67 and reached the state tournament in 2001, 2003 and 2005. So in the high school ranks, Kevin has proven himself as one of the most successful women’s head coaches in Tennessee. In his 17 years he amassed a record of 434-120, while winning one state title and making six trips to the state tournament.

Last week, Gary Houston introduced Suzie McWherter of the Union City Baptist Hospital’s Hospice Program. Suzie began her program by describing the duties of the hospice personnel, saying that their main duty was to provide support for the patient that is near the end, and the family of the patient , by making sure the patient is as comfortable as possible and prepare the family of the patient for these trying times, as well as possible. Suzie said they also strive to educate the patient and family on skills needed to prepare for the death of the patient.

She said the staff of the hospice program are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They also provide bereavement service for the family 13 months after the death of the patient.

She said the service they provide allows the patient to stay at home during his/her last days, which is becoming more popular in the last few years, where as before the patient was normally in a hospital and not close to their loved ones.

She went into some of the admission criteria to be admitted to the program, saying that most patients have been diagnosed with a dreaded disease, such as liver disease, cancer, A.L.S. HIV or some other type which there is no cure. She also explained in detail that some of the myths surrounding hospice are far fro the truth, such as they do not have to wait to be called in just for the last few days of the patients life, they are not kicked out after 6 months of service, they may leave hospice and be reinstated if the illness becomes worse, and they can be admitted to an internal care facility if complications arise which are not related to the diagnosis which brought them to the patient in the first place.

She said they had 12 patients in hospice now and the average length of service to the patient is 25-30 days, and normally it took 1 nurse to take care of 5 patients.

Oct. 23 - UTM Girls Basketball Coach, Kevin McMillan

Oct. 30 - Breast Cancer Awareness, Union City Baptist Hospital

Oct. 17 - Shea Riley, Jr.

Oct. 19 - Sam Sinclair

Oct. 20 - Randy Chism

Oct. 22 - Wallace Ward

Oct. 18 - Gabe and Amy Sullivan

Oct. 19 - Mark and Shelia Ward